Cinematic Slant

Cinematic Slant is where I write about movies, including the campaign recaps I’ve been doing since 2004 along with other news and opinions.

Game Over, Man – Marketing Recap: I get that “not really trying” is kind of the whole point of the schtick from these guys and others of their comedic generation, but it’s not working and doesn’t make this movie look funny at all.

The New Avengers: Infinity War Trailer and Enduring Human Spirit: If you’ve watched both this and the first trailer, you know that Thanos seems to smack heroes around like it’s nothing. Iron Man, even in full Hulkbuster-type armor, is dismissed seemingly out of hand, as if he’s a gnat being swatted away. Cap, though, he resists. He keeps going. He simply refuses to be beaten down. To coin a phrase, he could do this all day.

Pacific Rim: Uprising – Marketing Recap: If the movie has more of an emotional, character-based core than what’s shown here (which is possible with DeKnight) I’ll be glad. The campaign mounted by Universal and Legendary, though, is as generic and bloated as the first one wasn’t. Aside from the moments where it overtly evokes the characters and events of the original there’s no emotional hook to grasp here.

Soundtracks Could Be Uniquely Positioned To Succeed: For the last couple months movie soundtracks – especially those for The Greatest Showman and Black Panther – have been dominating the album charts. That, as the THR story points out, is just the latest example of a trend that’s also included collections for Coco, the Fifty Shades movies and a number of others.

Isle of Dogs – Marketing Recap: I like the cross-cultural approach that is consistent throughout the campaign, which lends it a unique message and identify for the audience to latch on to. My main problem then is the lack of supporting material. This feels like a fully-fleshed out world Anderson is visiting and so not providing any sort of backstory or profiles feels like a misstep to me.

Studios Using Voice, Not Characters, in Marketing Movies on Social Media: On a couple different occasions, studios have begun playing with the voice of their online marketing more than trying to appear as if they exist within the movie’s physical world. Two examples jump out at me that offer what I think are fun approaches so social publishing.

Unsane – Marketing Recap: What this campaign does really well is sell the idea of terror happening within confined spaces, whether that’s a physical space like an institution’s room or the space of one’s own mind. That’s what it really has going for it, that everything happens in a very small area that increases the tension since if you can’t see danger in front of you it’s right behind you.

The Kitty Pryde Movie I Want to See: I’m more interested in a screen version of Kitty that’s as interesting as the one presented in Excalibur or “Astonishing,” a young hero who’s driven not out of rage or desire for revenge or even a sense of obligation. Instead she just wants to be a hero and help people. It’s pure and exciting and could make for a really powerful story.

Don’t Use the “B” Word In Your Movie Movie Marketing: Perhaps Heller has been following recent box-office trends and finding people are shying away from anything bearings of a few big moments that don’t adequately encapsulate a life in a compelling way. the “biopic” label for one reason or another. There are lots of potential explanations, from an end-of-year glut based on Awards Season to many seeming to hit the same point over and over to many being mere outlines.

Chris Thilk is a freelance writer and content strategist who lives in the Chicago suburbs.